I am about to start studies for a bachelor's in philosophy/linguistics. I need either two years of indo european or on year of a non indoeuropean language in order to get the linguistics degree. I can only devote three quarters to a language, but I need to at least have some background in latin and greek. I have just begun to study Greek on my own and it doesn't seem too difficult, although it would be nice to be in a classroom where people are speaking the language all the time. Should I take a year of Chinese, or get through either beginning first year Greek or Latin on my own, and then take the second year at the university? Either option would satisfy the language requirement for the degree.

I would study whichever languages you are more interested in. If you want to do advanced work in linguistics, think carefully about what sort of research you'd like to do. If I were you, I'd study Chinese because I'm come to appreciate the usefulness of spoken languages, but to each her own.

Since you're looking forward to a classroom where people are speaking ancient Greek "all the time," I'm sorry to say you'll be disappointed. Unless your professor is incredibly eccentric, you'll hear virtually no Greek spoken--just shaky recitations of whatever texts you're studying. Same with Latin (although perhaps less shaky with the pronunciation).